Leveraging your personality during times of change
Let’s face it, things are pretty up in the air right now.
At a macro level we have the daily speculation about what the Reserve Bank is going to do on interest rates, an upcoming Federal election, concern around global security and alliances – and now Trump’s Liberation Day with the likely economic upheaval to follow.
But closer to work, there is also a lot of uncertainty:
Social Issues: Expectations for societal progress are muted. Only 33% believe their countries will become more tolerant, and optimism for gender equality and work-life reforms like a four-day workweek remains low. This all reflects the massive uncertainty around progress and change in the world as a whole.
AI at Work: The growing adoption of AI in workplaces is reshaping job roles. While many companies claim it won’t lead to layoffs, employees face uncertainty about re-skilling and adapting to new technologies.
An ageing workforce: As the workforce ages, companies face challenges in supporting multigenerational teams and retaining older employees with evolving priorities, perspectives, and values.
With only 34% of major change initiatives achieving success, and with a lot of the burden of successful change falling to middle management there is a huge need for more empathetic leadership and management. Especially with with 73% of them reporting high stress during these periods and experiencing burnout. And with this group being responsible for leading and driving outcomes across the majority of businesses in Australia, they are definitely feeling the pinch.
In conversations with clients, one area that is coming up more and more is resilience – and the role that personality can play in dealing with challenging times.
Let’s dive a little bit deeper into that today…
What role does personality play during times of change?
Your personality is with you all the time – and so not surprisingly, it is also playing a significant role during times of change, how you embrace or avoid it, your response to change and the impact that it can have on you.
We’ve talked in the past about the relationship between personality and resilience (Check out: https://www.taly.com.au/blog/exploring-resilience-the-role-of-personality. )
But today, we want to step back and take a bigger picture view – and talk about a couple of specific areas of personality that play a role during times of change.
Firstly, there is one important thing to keep in mind – and it’s a key message that sits right at the heart of the TALY approach to personality profiling... there is no right or wrong personality!
Where you sit on these traits is generally fixed for most of your working life – and so we’re not trying to overlay judgement or to get you to change your personality.
The superpower in understanding personality is actually being aware of where you sit, how to leverage this, being mindful of the challenges it can present – and then leveraging your unique perspective to work with those around you to drive great change.
What are the big personality traits when it comes to change?
We’ve outlined three of the most influential traits of an individual when it comes to change:
Risk
Our risk profile is our tendency to take a chance when presented with scenarios and uncertain outcomes.
Those on the higher end of the scale will want to try something new for the potential payoff, looking to step outside of the status quo boldly. These people will confront change by trusting instincts and experience, not relying upon or needing full information.
Those on the lower end of the scale will prefer reliable and proven strategies, look to have all the information before making a change, and conduct a more rational analysis of whether to embrace a change.
Openness
Openness is the trait associated with trying the new, comfort with ambiguity, and a tendency to ask “what if?”.
Those high on Openness are the boundary pushers who see what others miss. This is the trait of innovators, artists, and explorers—those who ask “what if?” and don’t stop until they find out. High Openness means a love for deep ideas, an instinct for creativity, and a comfort with ambiguity. During times of change these people will look for every opportunity to try something new to see what works.
Those lower on Openness tend to prefer the tried-and-true approach, the status quo and don’t want to rock the boat. Ambiguity is a problem to be solved and not a reality to be lived in. This preference for stability is great because eventually we all have to have some grounding, but during times of change they may not feel comfortable and seek to find way to contain the chaos with rules and order.
Emotionality
Emotionality is how intensely someone feels their emotions, how much they’re likely to fluctuate, and generally how sensitive they are to stimuli in general.
High Emotionality often means heightened sensitivity to stress, a tendency to overthink, and a strong emotional response to challenges. While this can be overwhelming at times, it also means these individuals are deeply reflective, emotionally aware, and often the first to notice when something feels off in a situation.
Those with lower emotionality are naturally resilient and handle pressure with a calm, measured approach. They’re the ones who keep a cool head during crises and don’t sweat the small stuff. But they may also miss certain warning signs that those more sensitive pick up on.
When you pull these elements together, it can create a pretty clear picture. Imagine you’re conservative, risk averse and prone to feeling strong anxiety during uncertainty. Your response to change will be very different to someone who is more adventurous, level-headed and full of creative thoughts. Neither of these personalities is right or wrong – but these aspects will strongly impact how they respond and collaborate with others.
At TALY, we take the guesswork out of onboarding. Our platform delivers precise, research-backed personality insights that help managers onboard new hires faster and with more empathy, resulting in greater impact. We don’t believe in one-size-fits-all onboarding. We help organisations deliver the right experience for the right person —whoever they may be.
Get in touch to find out more… we love talking about this stuff! Or Book a Demo today to see how easy it is to start using TALY in your business.
The tricks to leveraging your personality during times of change
Build self-awareness
Know where you sit and what it means for you. There’s no such thing as a right or wrong personality, and we all have times in which we thrive – some during stability and others during flux. The key is to know our patterns and how to manage our reactions productively. It all starts with owning your personality and not thinking there’s anything wrong with how you typically respond.
Balance with those around you – and meet in the middle
Great teams and outcomes are built from diverse personalities and opinions working well together. By being aware of where you sit and where others sit, and then leveraging this in how you apply the learning in different situations, will lead to strong overall outcomes for the team.
Build strong and open communication
Encourage individuals to be open and clear on their perspectives, and to work positively across this. Tension in teams often comes from a lack of communication – and many challenges and much tension can be avoided by building open lines of communication across personality differences.
It’s ok to protect yourself
With a focus on the outcome and open communication, we can then feel ok to call out when we’re not feeling ok or need a little space. Owning your personality also means building those boundaries when we need them.
Understanding the personalities of your team members is a powerful tool for navigating change effectively. When individual team members recognise individual’s traits, they can tailor their approach to foster collaboration, reduce resistance, and boost morale. This ultimately means teams can build trust, adapt more smoothly to transitions, and create an environment where change feels, (and is) productive.